Research Information System
ISTANBUL BUSINESS RESEARCH, vol.51, no.2, pp.375-397, 2022 (ESCI)
The main purpose of this study is to determine the dimensions of speculative entrepreneurship for Turkish Bitcoin miners and to determine the motivational factors for becoming entrepreneurs in this area. The study was designed as a quali-tative study where data was collected from a sample of 13 Bitcoin miners. The collected data was analyzed and coded thorough thematic analysis. After determining each participant's profile, a narrative analysis was conducted to ensure the integrity of the research. Some of the key common characteristics determined were awareness, arbitrage, and high-profit expectations, whereas the self-manipulation feature was determined to be low. The key motivation for Participants for investing in Bitcoin was the absence of central management, the beginning of a new financial structure outside the exist-ing system, the opportunity for absolute privacy, and the excessive interest of society, which would serve as a leverage for arbitrage, with high profit expectation. With their increased level of awareness and knowledge, Bitcoin miners saw the opportunity for arbitrage. As speculative entrepreneurs, Bitcoin miners were aware of the extreme nature of the risk of investing in Bitcoin to gain highly desirable and expected profit by using the arbitrage opportunity in the existing system.